The rumpus at the very beginning of the Republican National Convention is symbolic of the fissures that have developed inside the Grand Old Party. The much-awaited Cleveland Convention began Monday with noisy delegates shouting down party officials who refused to hold a vote for the official nominee of the Republican party. As Donald Trump’s name was announced as the nominee for the president of the United States after a voice vote, scores of anti-Trump delegates in the sprawling arena started yelling in protest. Rebellious delegates punching the air and giving the thumbs down sign would have none of the voice vote and wanted a vote count. Their voices however fizzled out as the din subsided.
Then the wait began for the arrival of the maverick Republican who has galvanised as well as divided America like never before. But Donald Trump’s svelte wife was supposed to address the conference. The focus on the tycoon’s wife had stolen the limelight from other serious speakers, including Trump himself. News channels started beaming footage of his taxiing private jet after it landed at the airport. Here was the New York billionaire who didn’t have much to do with mainstream politics till much of last year, but was today being watched by the world and giving a seasoned player like Hillary Clinton a run for her votes.
That the real estate baron has entered the last phase of the US presidential race speaks volumes about his acumen to make a virtue out of nonsense. In fact, Trump’s nonsensical brand of politics should have ideally been thrown out the window in any serious democracy. But it succeeded in the United States in spite of its brand of serious politics and inclusive political institutions. Trump has been succeeding not because he has something valuable to offer to the American voter but because rivals in his party and across the political aisle do not have much to lure the voter with.
Trump’s achievement is not because of his success but because of the failures of his rivals and the opposition.
His wife Melania’s speech extolled family values and showed her regard for what she said was her husband’s kind and considerate demeanour. All hell broke loose over the Slovenian model’s speech and Trump’s campaign has been left fighting plagiarism charges as the words echoed what First Lady Michelle Obama had said during the 2008 Democratic Convention.
All that has been happening at the Republican Convention doesn’t come as a surprise given Trump’s disposition and the history of his campaign to court controversy. The hurly burly is set to intensify.
The rumpus at the very beginning of the Republican National Convention is symbolic of the fissures that have developed inside the Grand Old Party. The much-awaited Cleveland Convention began Monday with noisy delegates shouting down party officials who refused to hold a vote for the official nominee of the Republican party. As Donald Trump’s name was announced as the nominee for the president of the United States after a voice vote, scores of anti-Trump delegates in the sprawling arena started yelling in protest. Rebellious delegates punching the air and giving the thumbs down sign would have none of the voice vote and wanted a vote count. Their voices however fizzled out as the din subsided.
Then the wait began for the arrival of the maverick Republican who has galvanised as well as divided America like never before. But Donald Trump’s svelte wife was supposed to address the conference. The focus on the tycoon’s wife had stolen the limelight from other serious speakers, including Trump himself. News channels started beaming footage of his taxiing private jet after it landed at the airport. Here was the New York billionaire who didn’t have much to do with mainstream politics till much of last year, but was today being watched by the world and giving a seasoned player like Hillary Clinton a run for her votes.
That the real estate baron has entered the last phase of the US presidential race speaks volumes about his acumen to make a virtue out of nonsense. In fact, Trump’s nonsensical brand of politics should have ideally been thrown out the window in any serious democracy. But it succeeded in the United States in spite of its brand of serious politics and inclusive political institutions. Trump has been succeeding not because he has something valuable to offer to the American voter but because rivals in his party and across the political aisle do not have much to lure the voter with.
Trump’s achievement is not because of his success but because of the failures of his rivals and the opposition.
His wife Melania’s speech extolled family values and showed her regard for what she said was her husband’s kind and considerate demeanour. All hell broke loose over the Slovenian model’s speech and Trump’s campaign has been left fighting plagiarism charges as the words echoed what First Lady Michelle Obama had said during the 2008 Democratic Convention.
All that has been happening at the Republican Convention doesn’t come as a surprise given Trump’s disposition and the history of his campaign to court controversy. The hurly burly is set to intensify.
